Luke Walton did what a coach is supposed to do in a close game on Friday night.
He put four starters back on court.
Well, maybe he wasn’t supposed to do that.
The world of protecting lottery picks and trying to improve odds of landing a top-3 pick can lead to some strange commentary and coaching decisions.
And, oops, the Lakers won that game, extending their winning streak to three games at the wrong time of the season for lottery’s sake.
Walton knew fans are rooting for the team to lose to have the best chance of keeping its top-3 protected lottery pick.